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An individual was declared guilty on retrial of sexually assaulting Gisele Pelicot after she was rendered comatose by her spouse – and has had his incarceration period raised to 10 years.

Higher Court Case

The defendant, forty-four, an unemployed builder, who had contested his first conviction last year, underwent a retrial this week at the Nîmes court of appeal.

A panel of nine jurors, sitting with three judges, found Dogan guilty on Thursday of sexually assaulting Pelicot in her home in the south of France in the early hours of 29 June 2019.

The court heard that the accused, a married father, reached out to Gisèle Pelicot’s spouse, the husband, in an internet forum titled “unbeknownst to her”, where the husband was seeking men to visit his house to assault his wife once he had drugged her into a comatose state.

“We hope the panel will say loud and clear that in this society, human rights are also women’s rights – that permission is personal, not transferred,” stated Gisèle Pelicot’s lawyer, her legal representative. “Consent is secured personally and not through someone else from a husband.”

Case History

Dominique Pelicot, among the most severe sexual predators in modern French history, was handed a sentence to 20 years in prison last year for drugging his wife at the time and inviting multiple perpetrators to sexually assault her in her home in the Provence village of Mazan over a period of many years of their marriage.

Fifty other men were found culpable in a notable trial last year, and Dogan was the sole individual to challenge his conviction. He was first handed a term to nine years in prison, a punishment enhanced on Thursday to a decade.

The lead state prosecutor, Dominique Sie, had stated he should serve twelve years, because he “absolutely refuses to take any blame”.

Evidence Presented

The defendant had first sent Dominique Pelicot inappropriate pictures and then driven an hour from his village in the region to rape Gisèle Pelicot, after informing his wife he was stepping out, the testimony revealed.

Pelicot, who was brought from solitary confinement in prison to temporarily provide testimony at the hearing, informed the court that the accused had known his wife had been “incapacitated” and he communicated to men by phone: “I’m looking for someone to violate my wife after I’ve sedated her unbeknownst to her.”

The trial became a focus point for a larger conversation on sexual violence norms in society as the defendant continued to claim he was not guilty and had not committed rape, contending that because the victim's husband had allowed him into the room, his conduct had been permissible.

The jury in the Nîmes appeals court was shown recorded footage of Gisèle Pelicot’s unconscious figure, comatose and breathing heavily in a unconscious condition, while a grinning the perpetrator engaged in violation multiple times over a period of what investigators stated was 3.5 hours. The judge said she had been at risk of death by suffocation. The state's case said there was absolute certainty that she had been unaware and had not consented.

Accused's Testimony

The defendant told the court the recordings were simply “sex scenes” and denied it was violation. He said what he did was “a sexual act”, not assault. He stated the court: “I did not commit rape.” He said the victim's husband had invited him to the home, and therefore it was permissible. He said he was deceived by the husband. “I attempted to cease,” the accused informed the court. “I continued because he convinced me.”

Questioned if he wanted to make a closing remarks to the court, the defendant said: “I had no desire to hurt that woman.”

Pelicot's Words

The victim, who was cheered upon exiting the courtroom each day by supporters assembled to support her, addressed Dogan in court: “You fail to comprehend. When will you admit you violated me? It’s a crime to assault an unaware woman. When did I ever give you consent? Not once.”

The victim, seventy-two, became an global icon after she waived her right to confidentiality in the trial last year when she said: “The shame should shift.”

Legal Commentary

The prosecutor, addressing Gisèle Pelicot in court, said the defendant's refusal to take blame showed that: “Shame has not yet changed sides. The public is maybe in the midst of that, perhaps driven by the collective awareness spurred by the revelation of your case.”

Sie said Dogan’s claims of blamelessness showed how societal tolerance was still widespread in society as part of “old-fashioned” forms of “patriarchal control”. He said: “Now we must change the culture of violence to a culture of consent.”

Sie told Dogan: “As long as you reject it, it’s not just a woman, it’s an whole sordid social system that you are upholding.”

Personal History

Dogan was originated from Turkey and at the age of 5 relocated to the nation of France, where his father worked as a building manager. The testimony revealed that his parent was violent and that the defendant began using drugs at the age of ten. When Dogan was seventeen he was stopped by police for dealing drugs and his parent forced him to leave the family house. He spent time in prison for trafficking in his young adulthood and had worked as a builder but had experienced periods of homelessness.

He was wed and had a son with special needs, who he was the primary guardian for, as his wife worked in a educational cafeteria. The evidence showed his spouse did not know he had frequent sexual encounters outside their union. His legal team said this was his method of dealing with his challenging existence. The defendant had informed a court psychologist that each year he engaged in transactional encounters on his special day. His lawyers told the court he had arthritis resulting from the stress of the initial proceedings.